Question: Is it even possible to sell life insurance in 15 minutes compliantly and professionally?  

Clearly, some highly productive agents have perfected a sales approach where they get in and out of a meeting with prospects either buying or not buying in short order.  

Van Mueller, top life insurance advisor in North America, who sells 800 to 1,200 policies annually, says that he “sells” in 15 or 20 minutes. This is his approach: “Prospect, in just 15 minutes you can decide if you want me to help you, and in that same 15 minutes, I can tell you if I can. On that basis, when can you carve out 15 minutes or so for us to meet?”  

This first meeting is a mutual selection process that keeps you and your prospect at the same level. You have confidence in what you are doing, and the prospect has low anxiety about how you are doing it.  

This is the “Hi CLAS approach” – High Confidence for you and Low Anxiety Selling for them – the perfect combination for sales success. 

You can make a sale in 15 or 20 minutes. It can’t ALL be done in 20 minutes – the paperwork is extra – but the sale can be made. Here’s how: 

1. There’s a lot to financial security, so a good strategy is to use the “how to eat an elephant” approach – one bite at a time. Choose how you help most and offer it first. Complete one idea segment at a time, and you do a complete job.  
2. You can start with essential financial security as a concept: “Do you want to be okay when… You are sick or injured, can’t work, and your paycheque stops? What does okay mean for you? Do you want to be okay when you have a heart attack, stroke, cancer or paralysis and your life is altered forever? What does okay mean for you then? Do you want to be okay when you retire? What does okay mean for you? Do you want to be okay when you can no longer take care of yourself? What does okay mean to you? Do you want your family or your business to be okay when you die? What does okay mean to you?” You can choose an overarching concept or just choose one issue at a time. When you ask your prospect what okay means to them, you determine their priorities. 
3. Step one starts with explaining what you believe and how you help your clients by what you do. Your sales “story” is WHAT you do and a concise explanation of HOW you do it. It is built around a compelling idea or concept. This is how you help. All in just 15 or 20 minutes of well-chosen words, questions and example stories of your ideas in action that express your contagious passion for the business. You determine your prospect’s “why to buy,” and when they know their why, they will buy, and you have a guaranteed sale.  
4. Now transition to asking some questions “so we can customize this idea to best suit your situation and what you want.” Your prospect may or may not have the time to move ahead with questions. “Do we have time for some questions now or would you prefer another time?” If they have the time, you’re golden. If they don’t, you set another meeting immediately. If your prospect accepts moving ahead by asking what to do, they have made you their advisor and you can assume that they have bought. This is Mueller’s 15- or 20-minute sale. If they don’t, you’ve made your best attempt and it’s over.  
5. Now ask select questions to customize the idea to their situation. Ask specific questions to help make the idea theirs by accessing the relevant information you need to make an on-target and compliant presentation. You might even discover that the solution they first wanted is not the one they really want. Then adjust your process to suit. 
6. Using their information, prepare a solution. In complicated situations, you may have to go away to come up with the right idea. Other times, you can present the solution on the spot. No one will feel bad if you can help them quickly. 
7. Finally, you assume the sale as the natural conclusion of your Hi CLAS approach. 

Here are a few benefits of going Hi CLAS:  

1. Anyone can learn one good idea and start selling confidently, successfully and compliantly. 
2. The approach can be adapted to any level of complexity and market but stay simple.  
3. Fifteen-minute appointments are easier to get than 120-minute ones. 
4. Doing complete planning one bite at a time means you get paid as you go and your prospect is protected as you go.  

The Hi CLAS approach is intuitive, informative and instructive and makes sense on both sides of the table. Use it to develop your sales, and you will sell more and be more. You can be professional and compliant in just 15 minutes. When you help more, you sell more. 

This column by renowned advisor coach Jim Ruta was first published in the April 2023 edition of Insurance Journal magazine.

For more information on the tools to use to build your brand, check out www.advisorcraft.com/solis

Jim Ruta’s mission is simple – to preserve, promote and propel the financial advisor business. A former insurance advisor and executive manager of a 250-advisor agency, Jim is a highly regarded coach, author, podcaster and keynote speaker. He has spoken 4 times at the MDRT Annual Meeting including the Main Platform. Jim Ruta is an Executive Coach and Keynote speaker specializing in life insurance advisors and leaders. He works with top advisors around the world and re-energizes audiences with his deep insight and passion. 

If you have a question for Jim, you may send an email to [email protected]